Hislop believed that Semiramis was a consort of Nimrod, builder of the Bible's Tower of Babel, although Biblical mention of consorts to Nimrod is lacking. According to Hislop, Semiramis invented polytheism in an effort to corrupt her subjects' original faith in the God of Genesis.
Female rulers in ancient Mesopotamia were rare. But those who did rule made their mark on history. In the Neo-Assyrian regime of the ninth century B.C., one woman commanded an entire empire stretching from Asia Minor to what is today western Iran. She was Sammu-ramat, thought to mean “high heaven.” Her five-year rule, while brief, appears to have inspired long-lasting respect among her subjects and the world.
Centuries after her reign, Greek writers, and historians focused on Sammu-ramat and her achievements. They hellenized her name to Semiramis. From here, the Assyrian queen passed from the world of facts into the realm of legend. Some cast her as a beautiful femme fatale in a tragic love story. Classical authors attributed great accomplishments to Semiramis: commander of armies, and builder of the walls of Babylon and monuments throughout her empire.
Her allure did not diminish with time. She later inspired the Italian medieval poet Dante, who placed her in his Inferno where she is punished for her “sensual vices.” The French Enlightenment writer Voltaire wrote a tragedy about her, which was later made into Rossini’s 1823 opera, Semiramide.
Inspired by legends about the fierce Assyrian queen, 17th-century painter Louis de Caullery depicts Semiramis hunting a lion, a symbol of royalty, in front of the gates of Babylon. The painting is part of the collections at Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France.
The period between ca. 934-609 BCE is called the Neo-Assyrian or the Assyrian Imperial Period. The kings of Assyria who lived during this period are very well known, but the queens are less so. On these pages is information on the Assyrian queens’ positions, titles and activities during the Neo-Assyrian Period. Our knowledge of these queens comes from textual as well as archaeological sources. During the 1988-1989 excavation season at Nimrud the queens’ tombs were found at the Northwest Palace. These tombs included jewellery and objects belonging to three Assyrian queens, although ten Assyrian queens are known from this period. It is known that the Assyrian queens lived in the "harem" at the palace. They played an active role in the social, economic, religious and political life of Assyria. Some of them were very wealthy and had their own army under their command. They supported their husbands and sons as wife or mother. According to the sources, most of the Assyrian queens were not natives of Assyria. They came to the Assyrian palace from a foreign country via marriage. They had the title “woman of the palace” (in Sumerian, MI2.E2.GAL, and in Akkadian, sēgallu). The figure of the scorpion which appears on texts, seals and the other archaeological artefacts was identified with the queenship.
